


Quarantined

by teej_318



Series: Prompts for Camp NaNoWriMo April 2020 [6]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Upside Down, Angst, But instead of being roommates they're separated, Fluff and Angst, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Mike Wheeler Loves Will Byers, Oh my god they were quarantined, Qurantine fic, Will Byers Loves Mike Wheeler, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23537617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teej_318/pseuds/teej_318
Summary: Will decides to check in on Mike, whose been quieter than normal amidst the quarantine that has forced them to stay inside their respective dorms. As it turns out, Mike could use a good talking to.
Relationships: Will Byers & Mike Wheeler, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Series: Prompts for Camp NaNoWriMo April 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1650052
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	Quarantined

Will glanced up from his painting he was working on when his phone went off with a few text message alerts. Thanks to the quarantine, Will had been forced to stay inside, but it allowed more time for him to work on his artwork he normally wouldn't get to work on because of his full class load and his part-time job on campus. Luckily, he had sold several pieces of art work during high school and now in college, so he had built up sufficient savings to get him through the next few weeks while he was out of work.

He stood up from his painting, satisfied with the progress he had made thus far, and walked into the kitchen to wash his hands. He hung up the apron he was wearing and went to retrieve his phone, which was sitting on his kitchen counter. Not for the first time, he was relieved that his scholarship money was sufficient to cover not only tuition, but also the rent for his own apartment so he didn't have to live with someone he didn't know well. 

Will sat down on his kitchen counter and opened his phone. The notifications had come from a group text he had started with his friends Dustin, Lucas, Max and El. His best friend, Mike, was not in the group, because Will had created the group chat to see if the rest of his friends had heard from Mike. Mike had been unusually quiet in their group texts ever since the quarantine had been ordered. Though the friends were scattered across the Midwest and East Coast, they all liked to keep in touch with each other.

The only piece of communication they had seen from Mike in the group chat had been him confirming that he was going under lockdown and that he was glad Nancy had taught him proper cooking so he didn't have to rely on frozen meals for the next while. Will hadn't even heard much from Mike in their own text conversation, with Mike simply replying, "I'm okay, how are you?" to Will's messages of him checking in.

Will read through the texts from his friends:

_Max: Pretty much radio silence._

_El: He texted a few times checking on me, but he's been pretty quiet otherwise._

_Dustin: Notta. Have you tried calling him?_

_Lucas: Just the text he sent us when he said he was happy about knowing how to cook._

Will frowned at his friends' responses. Though he was somewhat relieved they hadn't heard much from Mike either, which meant that Mike wasn't just ignoring Will, it was extremely odd for Mike to be silent with all of them at the same time. Will reread Dustin's message with the suggestion of calling Mike and decided to give that a try. He walked over to his living room and sat down in his recliner, guessing that he and Mike would talk for a while, assuming Mike even answered his phone. 

He dialed Mike's number and waited. After three rings, Mike answered.

"Hey, Will. What's up?" Mike asked, sounding no different than he normally did.

Will was taken aback by Mike's casual tone. Maybe everything was okay and Mike was just busy with schoolwork of his own. After all, he tended to have a heavier workload than the rest of The Party since he usually took at least 15 credit hours a semester. 

"Oh, not much, just been painting," Will replied. "It's been nice to work on artwork that I'm not doing for a grade."

Mike chuckled.

"Yeah, I bet. It's always nice to do some writing that's not going to be read by a bunch of uptight English teachers who are stuck in the 1800s."

Will couldn't help but burst into laughter at Mike's remark. It made feel better than Mike hadn't seemed to have lost his usual sense of humor. When he finally stopped laughing, Will took a deep breath to make sure he was completely calm before he spoke again.

"I'm glad to see you're still cracking jokes, Mike," Will said. "If I'm being honest, I've been a little worried about you."

Will was greeted with a stiff silence on Mike's end. Will frowned, but then remembered Mike couldn't see his face, so he kept talking.

"You've been a little quiet on the group chat, Mike. Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," Mike said a little too quickly for Will's liking. 

"Are you sure, Mike? You seem a little quieter all of a sudden."

Mike sighed and Will could tell he was starting to get through to his best friend.

"It's okay, Mike, you can tell me anything."

"It's stupid, Will. It doesn't matter."

"Hey," Will chided. "How many times do I have to tell you that your feelings are valid? You're allowed to feel however you feel, Mike. It's okay."

Mike sighed again and Will could picture Mike nodding as he took in Will's words. It brought a smile to his face that he knew exactly what his best friend would look like as they talked.

"I just...I'm not used to spending so much time by myself, Will," Mike said. "I'm used to being able to go out on campus, even if it's just for a walk, but I'm so used to being able to talk to people and it doesn't let me get lost in my head."

Will nodded in sympathy.

"Yeah, I get that, Mike," he said. "It's weird not seeing people every day, even if you just say hi to them or nod as you walk by them. That is weird."

"I guess that me staying inside hasn't exactly been all that good for me," Mike said, hesitating.

"It's okay, Mike. You can tell me."

"I mean, I keep thinking about all of these things. It's hard not to when you have a bunch of time to do whatever you want. I keep thinking about how much I hurt you last year, Will, and I hate myself for that. I keep telling myself that you've forgiven me, but part of me keeps thinking that maybe you don't mean it. I know that's stupid..."

"Hey, hey, hey," Will said in a comforting voice, wishing he could pull Mike into a hug at Mike's revelation. "It's okay, Mike. You and I are okay, I promise."

"I know, I know," Mike replied, sounding like he was crying, which tore Will's heart in two. "I just wish I had never done it. I just keep thinking about it. I don't know why. I'm sorry, I don't mean to bother you with my problems."

"Mike, you're not a bother to me, don't ever say that about yourself. You're my best friend and I would do anything to make sure you're okay. And I think I know why you've been thinking like this. You hurt me, which you've never really done before, so you feel an intense guilt, am I right?"

Mike was silent, but Will could picture him nodding. Will wished he could place a comforting hand on Mike's shoulder to reassure his best friend. This quarantine needed to end soon so he could see Mike in person. 

"But you don't have to feel guilty, Mike. I forgave you and we moved past it. We're still best friends and we always will be."

"I couldn't ever lose you, Will," Mike said in a tone barely louder than a whisper.

"And I couldn't lose you either, Mike. You're too important to me. That's why I forgave you and I still forgive you: because you're too good of a person. You've always made my life better and you've always made me feel safe. And even though we fought, it allowed both of us to be open and vulnerable with each other like we never have before. In a weird way, Mike, it helped us grow."

Will could heard Mike chuckling as he cried.

"Yeah, I guess we did get closer," Mike said. "I'm sorry again that I hurt you, Will."

"Oh, Mikey. You've already apologized, but I'll let you hear this again, because I think you need it: I forgive you, Mike. And I'll always be your friend and you'll always be mine."

"Thanks, Willie," Mike replied, sniffling. "I miss you so much."

"I miss you, too, Mike. And so does everyone else. They've been worried about you, too. I think you should let them know you're doing okay. You don't have to tell them everything you've told me, especially if you don't want to, but you can at least let them know you're hanging in there, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll do that, I promise."

Will hesitated before he spoke again. 

"And Mike? Have you considered talking with a therapist about this?"

"A therapist?" Mike asked.

"Yeah. You don't even have to talk about you and me. You can talk to them about anything you want, get some things off your chest. Therapy was great for me after Mom and Dad split and my therapist helped me realize it was actually the best thing that could have happened to me, especially since it got my Dad out of my life."

Mike sighed.

"You know, maybe I should see someone," Mike said. "Maybe it would help me figure out why I always seem to think bad thoughts even though I know things are okay."

"You'll have my full support one way or another, Mike. But, I really hope you'll give it some thought."

"I will. I promise."

Will could tell they had reached the end of their conversation. But, he also know that neither him nor Mike wanted to hang up and end their phone call. It was a running gag of theirs to stay on with each other in a comfortable silence, just happy to be connected with each other.

"Hey Mike?" Will asked after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah?" Mike replied, his voice sounding calmer now.

"I love you, you know that?"

Mike chuckled.

"Yeah, I know. I love you too, Will."

Those words made Will feel happier than he thought were possible. No matter how Mike meant those words, hearing them always made Will feel protected and loved.

"Crazy together, right?" Will asked.

"Of course, Will. Crazy together." 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed my little quarantine fic! The idea just kinda fell into my head this morning and I couldn't get it out of my head, so I decided to write it! And I wanted to do a "Oh my god, they were qurantined!" story, but without them living together.
> 
> For reference, I imagine the fight Mike and Will allude to being the one they had in season 3, though this story takes place outside the canon. And I imagine the boys having a major heart-to-heart when Mike apologizes and they both come out to each other.
> 
> As always, you can follow me on Tumblr: [@wackywriterwhowriteswhenever](http://wackywriterwhowriteswhenever.tumblr.com)


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